Warning! Spoilers for Shadow & Bone below.
Alina Starkov spends the majority of Shadow & Bone season 1 dreaming of a very particular stag. The creature is something of a myth to her people, but has an unspoken connection to Alina. Their bond signifies Alina's growing significance to destroying the Fold - here's why.
Netflix series Shadow & Bone, based on a series of fantasy books by Leigh Bardugo, is set in a war-torn world in which an evil force called the Shadow Fold threatens the well-being of every man, woman, and child across the globe. Orphan mapmaker and soldier Alina (Jessie Mei Lei) accidentally unleashes a previously unthinkable power, and the country of Ravka looks to her as their only hope for destroying the Fold once and for all. In order to do so, she is plucked from the only life she knows in order to train with an army of magical soldiers called the Grisha. Alina has to learn to hone her power all while she struggles to navigate the dangerous secrets of the world she has been thrust into.
Alina may be forced to leave her old life behind in Shadow & Bone, but there's one thing she can't leave behind - dreams of a mysterious stag. Once Grisha army General Kirigan (Ben Barnes) demands this stag be tracked down, it's clear that the animal's purpose goes far beyond haunting Alina's dreams. It very well may hold the key to Alina's ability to destroy the Fold for good.
While the Shadow & Bone adaptation doesn't spend too much time on the history of the Stag, the novels clearly outline its importance to the Ravka people. It is an ancient and white, glowing stag that only appears at twilight. The Stag can talk and even grant wishes to those who capture it. Because of its magical qualities, the Stag was believed to be a myth by the Ravka. Similarly, Alina's powers as the Sun Summoner, which means she has the ability to summon pure light, made her something of a living myth as well. This reinforces her bond to the Stag, foreshadowing just how important their connection will be to the Ravka in the future.
The stag was enhanced to be something magical by Ilya Morozova, who was an early and incredibly powerful Grisha with the ability to manipulate physical matter and chemicals. Morozova modified these animals with his own bones to connect them to the Making at the Heart of the World, which is an ancient and revered force in the world of Shadow & Bone. The Stag became one of three amplifiers in existence, which included the Sea Whip and the Firebird.
Morozova's Stag, Sea Whip, and the Firebird are all amplifiers. The enhanced part of these creatures can amplify a Grisha's magic, as long as the Grisha killed the animal and wore the magical part of that animal as a bracelet or necklace. In the case of the Stag, its magic existed in its antlers — that is why the television adaptation of Shadow & Bone had the antlers physically fused to Alina and Kirigan's bodies. Grishas may only use one amplifier at a time, as using multiple would literally throw the balance of the world out of whack. One of the most important things to keep in mind about an amplifier is that is a mutual relationship — the Grisha choses the amplifier, but the amplifier must choose the Grisha as well.
Near the end of Shadow & Bone season 1, Kirigan kills the Stag and uses a Fabrikator to fuse part of its antlers to both his and Alina's bodies. For a while, this means that his and Alina's powers were both amplified and he controlled both sets. But the Stag never chose him — it chose Alina. Once she realized this, Alina gained the confidence to take her power back. But in a move that was different than the Shadow & Bone books, Alina had to physically cut the antler out of Kirigan's body to sever their connection. With that chunk of its antlers out of Kirigan's hands, Kirigan no longer had any access to its powers. The Grisha that the amplifier chooses takes precedence over the one who kills it.
Alina didn't realize this until the Shadow & Bone finale, but that relationship was likely why she dreamt of the Stag so often. Although she was never properly tested as a child like Ravkans are supposed to be (she cheated the test, essentially), she was a Grisha since birth. The Stag's appearance in her dreams signified that it was always meant to be her amplifier. Those dreams were the Stag's way of calling out to Alina. It just took a some time for Alina to answer the call so their connection could be permanently forged. But once she did realize their connection in the Shadow & Bone ending, her powers seemed to be stronger than ever. That moment is an indicator that her enhanced powers will be an important part of her story in Shadow & Bone season 2.
Once the world heard of her powers, all eyes turned to Alina to defeat the Fold. As it is made up of pure darkness and shadow, light is its complete opposite. Because of that, the Ravkans believed light was the key to destroying it. They waiting centuries for a Sun Summoner to take the Fold down. The wait was so long that the Sun Summoner became something of a myth. So once Alina's powers were discovered, the pressure to destroy the Fold was mounting. For the majority of Shadow & Bone season 1, she wasn't strong enough to produce a light powerful enough to destroy it. But once her powers became amplified by the Stag, it was clear she finally the power to destroy the Fold. But her efforts will likely be fought by Kirigan, also known as the Darkling, who was shown to evade death in the final moments of Shadow & Bone season 1. Mid-way through the season, he was revealed to be an antagonist who wanted to weaponize the Fold. As General of the Grisha army and a human amplifier himself, he is one of the most powerful Grisha. But with Alina's powers fully amplified and realized, she'll put up a real fight against him. Their struggle will likely be the focal point of Shadow & Bone season 2.
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